- OpenAI says its AI went rogue and launched “unprecedented” cyber-attack
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“OpenAI has revealed some of its most advanced AI models went rogue and hacked a start-up after it lost control of them during a security test. The ChatGPT-maker said its agent – an AI system which can operate alone after some human instruction – was being tested in a controlled environment, but found vulnerabilities and managed to escape. They targeted Hugging Face, one of the world’s largest hubs for sharing AI models, gaining access to some internal company systems. OpenAI said the incident was ‘unprecedented’, and it was conducting an investigation alongside Hugging Face, whose boss Clement Delangue said in a post on X it was ‘mind-blowing that all of this happened autonomously’.” (07/22/26)
- Latvia: Army attacks migrants with chemical weapons
Source: US News & World Report
“Latvian soldiers used tear gas and fired a warning shot to stop migrants trying to enter from Belarus, the army said on Wednesday, as the prime minister said Latvians were worried about a rising number of migrants trying to cross the border. Latvia, along with Poland and Lithuania, has accused Belarus and its ally Russia of orchestrating migrant flows from the Middle East and Africa in an attempt to destabilise countries on NATO’s eastern flank, an allegation both Minsk and Moscow deny.” (07/22/26)
- GA: City’s youngest-ever mayor stripped of duties, access over alleged spending habits
Source: New York Post
“A Georgia city’s youngest-ever mayor was temporarily stripped of his duties and privileges amid an investigation over his alleged spending – less than a year after being elected on a campaign premised around accountability and transparency. Jayden Williams, the 22-year-old mayor of Stockbridge, Ga., was ordered to hand over his city-issued credit cards by Monday at noon due to his spending, but failed to meet the deadline, Atlanta News First reported. Stockbridge city council officials launched a probe into Williams after ‘information’ was presented to finance officials and the city attorney, without divulging further. … ‘Mayor Williams welcomes a full and independent investigation and looks forward to the opportunity to address any allegations through the proper process,’ a statement shared on his Facebook page says.” (07/22/26)
- Trump approves US-Saudi nuclear deal
Source: NBC News
“President Donald Trump has approved a landmark civilian nuclear deal between the United States and Saudi Arabia that is expected to be announced Wednesday, a senior administration official told NBC News. The agreement will see the U.S. support the creation of a nuclear power program and see American companies build the program inside the kingdom, said the official, who was not authorized to speak publicly. … Congress will be required to vote on the agreement, but would need a veto-proof majority to actually block it. The deal could pave the way for the kingdom to pursue its own uranium enrichment, likely raising fears of nuclear proliferation.” (07/22/26)
- France: Modelling scout linked to Epstein found dead in Paris suburbs
Source: BBC News [UK state media]
“A modelling scout linked to the late convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein has been found dead at his home. Daniel Siad, 69, was discovered on Monday in Colombes, a north-west suburb of Paris, the Nanterre prosecutor’s office confirmed to the BBC. ‘An investigation to determine the cause of death was opened on Monday evening following the discovery,’ the office said, adding that an autopsy will be carried out. Siad’s name appeared thousands of times in the Epstein files released by the US government. He had previously denied any knowledge of the threat that Epstein posed.” (07/22/26)
- Court upholds Trump aide’s criminal contempt conviction
Source: United Press International
“A federal appeals court on Tuesday upheld the criminal conviction of Peter Navarro, a longtime adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump, for refusing to testify about the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol. Navarro was convicted of contempt by a jury in 2023 after he rejected a subpoena from the congressional committee investigating the insurrection. … Navarro has claimed that Trump asserted executive privilege to keep him from testifying. However, judges have repeatedly said he has failed to produce evidence of this, and Trump has not backed up his claim.” (07/21/26)
https://www.upi.com/Top_News/US/2026/07/21/court-upholds-navarro-conviction/5361784668064/
- IRS in the hot seat over potential cash grab from Spain’s World Cup winnings: “It’s a rip-off'”
Source: Fox News
As reigning 2026 FIFA World Cup champions, Spain won $50 million in prize money, but a large portion of that could be subject to federal taxes in the United States — potentially up to 30%. ‘I think it’s a rip-off,’ Rep. Tim Burchett, R-Tenn., told Fox News Digital. ‘I’m not a fan of it, but Americans have to do it. American professional athletes do it, so they knew that when they came over here.’ Income earned from activities performed in America is generally, in almost all instances, taxable by the IRS. Under tax law in the U.S., certain payments to nonresident foreign athletes are generally subject to a 30% federal withholding unless reduced by a tax treaty or a different exception.” (07/21/26)
- Trump announces coming 100% tax hike on American patients to protect Big Pharma profits
Source: France 24 [French state media]
“President Donald Trump said on Tuesday that all generic drugs brought into the US will continue to have a tariff of 0% for two years starting from August 1, after which the tariff rate will be raised to 100% for one year and to 200% thereafter. ‘This is done in order to RESHORE Generic Pharmaceutical Production into America, with a penalty to those Companies that decide not to build Plant and Equipment within the stated period of time given to them,’ Trump said in a post on Truth Social. … More than 90% of medicines sold in the US are generics, according to the US Food and Drug Administration. The policy on patented, branded or innovative drugs will remain unchanged, Trump said.” (07/22/26)
- “Very Large Customer” tariff may cost Oracle $7 billion in collateral for huge Wisconsin data center
Source: SFGate
“Bay Area tech giant Oracle may have to pay billions to a Wisconsin utilities company over a massive data center campus being built in partnership with OpenAI. In April, the Public Service Commission of Wisconsin finalized revised energy tariffs set by its largest utility provider, We Energies. The rules, meant to protect utility customers from rising costs amid a nationwide boom in controversial data center construction, require large energy consumers to post collateral if their credit rating is too low. The new tariffs are now hitting Oracle following S&P Global’s downgrade of the company’s credit rating on July 9 over its artificial intelligence ventures, describing them as ‘increasing its overall credit risk.'” (07/21/26)
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/oracle-seven-billion-dollar-payment-22354473.php
- India: Opposition leader Gandhi freed after detention at student-led protest
Source: Al Jazeera [Qatari state media]
“Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi has been released after he was detained during growing protests over the education system. This comes as opposition parties staged a protest at parliament on Wednesday demanding the resignation of India’s education minister, echoing the demands of student demonstrators. The protests, which have been led predominantly by students and a social media-driven movement, the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), have emerged as one of the biggest challenges to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. Protesters have called for the resignation of Modi and Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan after a leak of medical school test papers forced more than two million medical students to retake their exams and was linked to at least 12 student suicides. Gandhi and other opposition leaders were detained on Tuesday during a sit-in outside Modi’s residence in New Delhi while accusing the government of ignoring student demands.” (07/22/26)
- Let’s Put Democratic Socialism to the Test
Source: Townhall
by Peter Demos“Every major economic idea deserves more than campaign speeches and cable news debates. It deserves to be tested. Before anyone rushes to point to Scandinavia, Venezuela, Cuba, or any other country to argue whether socialism has succeeded or failed, I’d like to propose a different kind of test. To the Democratic Socialists of America and those who believe this economic model is the future, I have a sincere proposal: Take your principle seriously enough to apply it consistently.” (07/22/26)
- Hosting a prayer at your house? You might need a permit.
Source: Washington Post
by Michael A Helfand“The Supreme Court agreed last month to hear a case that asks a remarkable question: Can the government require a homeowner to obtain a permit before inviting friends to his house for prayer? Grand v. City of University Heights centers on an Orthodox Jewish minyan — a prayer quorum consisting of at least 10 adult men — but the legal principles at stake extend well beyond one faith. The case will arrive at the court after years of neighborhood intrigue and municipal politics, where attempts to convene a minyan in a private home devolved into allegations of anti-Jewish animus, police surveillance, zoning hearings and cease and desist orders.” (07/22/26)
- Half of Students Now Get As, But Actual Achievement Is Declining
Source: The Daily Economy
by Hannah Frankman Hood“Your child’s report card may be sending the wrong signal. Grades and GPAs increasingly reflect institutional incentives rather than academic achievement.” (07/22/26)
https://thedailyeconomy.org/article/half-of-students-now-get-as-but-actual-achievement-is-declining/
- China hawks are losing the public opinion battle
Source: Responsible Statecraft
by Frank Yuwen Chen“Despite a Beltway push for confrontation, polls show that average Americans want a normal relationship with Beijing.” (07/22/26)
https://responsiblestatecraft.org/us-public-opinion-on-china/
- Why Trump’s Allies in Israel & AIPAC’s on the Hill are in Trouble
Source: Informed Comment
by H Scott Prosterman“Two years ago, just 37 House Democrats voted to cut off U.S. aid for Israel. Now more than half of the Democratic representatives have come around to recognizing: 1.) That unconditional US support for Israel is no longer tenable, and 2.) Netanyahu’s Likud government has become a global pariah state, and 3.) Continued support of Israel brings the US global alienation; and BTW, probably cost Kamala Harris the 2024 presidential election. Though the Democratic leadership remains captive to the AIPAC payroll, the US-Israeli relationship has never been more tenuous. This occurs in tandem with the rise of similar grassroots movements within Israel.” (07/22/26)
- Everyone Is a Foreign Agent Now
Source: Antiwar.com
by Thomas S Karat“A German blogger reposted four videos. Europe’s highest court has just ruled that makes him a criminal – and the same machinery is being built on both sides of the Atlantic.” (07/22/26)
https://original.antiwar.com/thomas_karat/2026/07/21/everyone-is-a-foreign-agent-now
- Trump Didn’t Invent the Tribunate Presidency
Source: Liberal Currents
by Guillaume AW Attia“John Adams'[s] rocky presidency illuminates the long-running conflicts over how Americans conceive of the executive power.” (07/22/26)
https://www.liberalcurrents.com/trump-didnt-invent-the-tribunate-presidency/
- How the War Splits Iranians
Source: Persuasion
by Mitra Vand“It is not surprising that June’s Islamabad Memorandum of Understanding between Iran and the United States has proven to be shaky to the touch. Nothing about this conflict has ever been resolved, only paused. Not because either side is incapable of diplomacy, but because neither side has ever fully believed the other side to be trustworthy. But for people inside Iran, the news meant what it has always meant: life was about to get harder. Both countries hold competing narratives about why, but the result is the same: the war has returned to Iran’s southern provinces.” (07/21/26)
- Let California moms keep our coupons — and keep government out of it
Source: New York Post
by Shirin Yadegar“As a California mom, I don’t wake up wondering whether an algorithm determined which coupon landed in my inbox. I wake up wondering why a quick trip to the grocery store now costs hundreds of dollars. I wonder whether my children will ever be able to afford a home in the state where they were raised. I wonder how many more families are quietly putting groceries on a credit card just to get through the month. Like millions of parents across California, I’m asking a simple question: When will Sacramento start making life more affordable instead of more complicated?” (07/21/26)
https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/opinion/let-california-moms-keep-our-grocery-coupons/
- Nicaragua’s Regime Drops the Pretense of Democracy
Source: Reason
by Katarina Hall“Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega announced on Sunday that the country will no longer hold elections, preventing the opposition from competing for power and further cementing his authoritarian grip on the country. … Ortega, now 80 years old, is a former guerrilla fighter who first came to power after the Sandinista Revolution and served as president from 1985 to 1990. After suffering a defeat in 1990, he returned to power in 2007 and has remained there ever since. His regime, which he now formally leads alongside his wife and ‘co-president,’ Rosario Murillo, had long since extinguished what remained of democracy in the country. Over the years, it has cracked down on political dissent, free speech, independent media, and civil society. Ortega’s most recent announcement is just an escalation of that trend.” (07/21/26)
https://reason.com/2026/07/21/nicaraguas-regime-drops-the-pretense-of-democracy/
- Don’t Water Down the Bachelor’s Degree
Source: Independent Institute
by Richard K Vedder“Should it take four years to earn a bachelor’s degree? No. If you can earn a bachelor’s degree at Oxford or Cambridge Universities in three years, why not at Harvard, Florida State, or the University of Oklahoma? Is the three-year degree being promoted by some in Virginia and Ohio, therefore, a good thing? No, because it appears to aim to achieve this goal by reducing the academic work required by about 25 percent, to about halfway between what an associate degree and a traditional bachelor’s degree require.” (07/21/26)
https://www.independent.org/article/2026/07/21/dont-water-down-the-bachelors-degree/
- They See Dead People
Source: Quillette
by Jonathan Kay“I’ve often used the term ‘social panic’ to describe the unmarked-graves claims that swept through Canada in 2021. For reasons described below, the term feels inadequate. But I can’t think of any word or phrase that better captures the spasm of manic self-denigration that unfolded following the purported discovery of 215 dead children (some ‘believed to be as young as three years old,’ gullible reporters told us) on the grounds of a former Indigenous residential school in Kamloops, British Columbia. … It would take months, or even years in many cases, before mainstream media outlets began admitting—tacitly or otherwise—that they’d been duped by Casimir’s fake news (as the Globe & Mail newspaper finally did last month). Despite the passage of five years since the original announcement, many public figures, including former prime minister Justin Trudeau, have never come clean on the issue.” (07/21/26)
- When the Anti-Sharia Law Demagogues Fall Silent
Source: The American Prospect
by Harold Meyerson“The stench arising from the proposed purchase of Warner Bros. Discovery by Paramount isn’t just the concentration of market power by the merged studios nor the likely takeover of CNN by President Trump’s fanboys. It’s also the fact that the purchase is funded by investments from the sovereign wealth funds of three foreign nations, none of which are in any way, shape, or form democracies: Saudi Arabia, Abu Dhabi, and Qatar. … the purchase of Warner Bros. by foreign nations has not been investigated by the governmental body that customarily handles such matters: the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) …. But the most glaring absence from these duties isn’t CFIUS’s. It’s that of the far-right Republican elected officials who’ve sought to generate and mobilize anti-Muslim bigotry by campaigning against the completely nonexistent threat of Sharia law infiltrating and overtaking American jurisprudence.” (07/21/26)
- How Not to Do Industrial Policy
Source: The American Conservative
by Charles Benoit“Earlier this month, Bloomberg published a brutal autopsy of industrial policy gone wrong. The article documented how, beginning in 2020, the U.S. government provided $850 million to six American companies to bolster domestic manufacturing of nitrile gloves, a critical component of the medical supply chain. Six years later, not one of those companies is making gloves. … The company that received the most funding, Blue Star NBR out of Wytheville, Virginia, was supposed to use that money to build the first American plant in a generation capable of making nitrile butadiene rubber (NBR)—the raw material every nitrile glove is made of. It never produced a single batch. Its CEO said he is a month from selling the plant for parts, most of which will go to manufacturers based in China. To put it bluntly: American taxpayers built a synthetic rubber plant, and China may now cart it off in crates.” (07/21/26)
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/how-not-to-do-industrial-policy/
- LPA Solidarity Stream 20
Source: LP Alliance
“Lydia Christensen for US Senate from LP Michigan!” (07/21/26)
- Nonzero, 07/21/26
Source: bloggingheads.tv
“The Ideology Behind AI | Robert Wright & Connor Leahy.” (07/21/26)
- The Kyle Anzalone Show, 07/21/26
Source: Libertarian Institute
“Larry Johnson on the Shocking Details of the Death of Senator Lindsey Graham.” (07/21/26)